Unexpected Flavor
by Jade Hunter
Summary: AU. James always has a new flavor of the week, currently Lily. He breaks up with her, but she's not broken up about it.


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Title: Unexpected Flavor

Author: Jade Hunter

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ and all its characters belong to J. K. Rowling.

A.N: Quick fic, one-shot, which I thought of while eating dinner. Whenever James is the ladies man, Lily is always too smart to go out with him. I wanted to put a new and different spin on that…

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"When are you going to do it?" Sirius Black asked his best friend.

James Potter smiled in anticipation; "Tonight, after the announcement of the Yule Ball."

"In front of _everybody_?" Peter Pettigrew's mouth dropped open at the utter cruelty of it all. It wasn't as if his friend hadn't done if before, but… "Are you sure, Prongs? I mean, she's a _Gryffindor_, not some Slytherin girl."

James waved his hand carelessly, "Yeah, so what? She's no different from all the other girls I've gone out with. Besides, what can she do to me? I'm a Prefect."

"So is she," Remus Lupin, the last member of their group and by far the most sensible, pointed out helpfully. "_Plus_, she always gets better marks than you on Charms, and remember what she did to that git Malfoy her second year for calling her a Mudblood?"

Sirius slung an arm over James' shoulder, saying, "Nah, you guys aren't thinking. She's a _girl_. One that will have been dumped by Casanova over here. She'll probably be crying too hard to do anything."

James nodded in agreement. It was well known that he dated a new girl every week, and the one he was with now had just run out of time. It was nothing new, and her reaction wouldn't be, either.

Remus and Peter eyed the two of them with doubt.

"If you say so."

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James waited until Professor Dumbledore announced the Yule Ball before going in search of his current flavor of the week, soon to be last week's flavor.

He found her in the library, with her regular study group.

It'll probably be a double blow, he thought, rather unsympathetically. _She'll probably be expecting me to ask her to the Ball._

Walking up behind her, he tapped her politely on her shoulder. "Hey, Lily, can I talk to you?"

She turned around, and smiled when she saw him. James automatically smiled back.

One thing he had no problem admitting was that Lily Evans was very pretty. She had a thick head of naturally wavy dark red hair, with the fair complexioned skin that often accompanied that hair color. She was blessed by the lack of freckles to go with her red hair, and by having startling eyes. They were very wide, and very green. There was really no way to describe them, really, but everyone agreed that they were her best features.

"What is it James?" she asked.

He eyed her friends, who were all watching him, and said nervously, "Maybe we should talk in private."

James had experienced the wrath of angry friends before, who all wanted to extract vengeance for their slighted girl friends.

Lily turned to her close friends: Areta Gabriel, a Ravenclaw; and Kamaria Kaye, a Hufflepuff.

Though house pride made him a bit edgy at the fact that she had such diverse friends, James thought – not for the first time, and not without a small amount of relief – _At least she has better taste than to befriend a Slytherin._

"Do you mind, girls?" Lily asked, politely.

As if they had rehearsed the entire thing, all three girls glanced at each other, then at James before smiling widely.

Unusual, James noted, _especially for the Ravenclaw._

"Of course not, Lily," Kamaria fairly crooned. "We don't mind at all if you and James talk in front of us, do we, Areta?"

Areta obediently shook her head in agreement.

James gulped as Lily turned back to him expectantly.

"Uh…" he said, articulately. "I was…hoping for some…privacy…"

"There's nothing you can't say to me in front of my friends, James," Lily replied, sweetly.

If you're sure, he thought, his face heating up uncomfortably. It was her friends that were making him nervous – he was certain of it. He had done this thousands of times before, yet had never been as anxious as today, with Lily.

"I want to break up," he finally blurted out. "I mean, you were great, you _are_ great – " he corrected himself hastily.

Lily held up a slender hand; "There's no need for you to continue, James," she said, still very nicely. "I understand what you mean."

"You do?" he asked, dumbly.

Nodding, Lily rose and gathered her things, putting her books into her bookbag. Her friends did the same, all smiling at him in a friendly fashion.

"Yes," she replied. "I do."

With that, she and her entourage swept off, leaving him gaping at them dumbly. A few feet from the door, however, Lily Evans paused.

Turning, she said, "And don't worry about the Yule Ball, James. Amos Diggory has already agreed to escort me."

"What?" James blinked. Diggory? That stupid Hufflepuff?

Lily nodded, "Yes, he asked me right after Professor Dumbledore notified us Prefects about it. I said yes, of course."

After the Prefects knew? James thought, his mind a whirl. _That was…four days ago!_

He gaped at Lily, unable to comprehend the idea that she had agreed to go out with another boy when she had been dating him.

Shooting him a smile, a nice friendly one, Lily Evans and her friends left the library.

What kind of girl is **that**? He thought furiously to himself. _Where was the crying? The anger? The hex threats?_

Wait! Maybe she was secretly devastated, and had simply put on an act for him! Yes, that was the answer! There was no way a girl could be so truly unaffected when he, James Potter, broke it off with them!

Convinced that it had all been a fake, James ran out of the library and down the hall, skidding to a halt when he saw Lily, who was oblivious to his presence.

She was laughing and smiling with her friends.

She was happy.

After he, James, had broken up with her.

It was inconceivable!

Impossible!

What kind of girl **is** that? He asked himself again, flabbergasted. As he watched her part with her friends, her green eyes sparkling, he realized…

He had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

Coming to his senses, he took off running again, trying to catch up with her.

"Lily, wait!"

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FIN.


End file.
